Aspects of the present invention relates to a vent head for a steam system.
In an industrial and heating process utilizing steam, steam is generated in a boiler and transferred through pipework at high temperature and pressure to various industrial processes where the energy in the steam is utilised.
Some steam system components, such as blow down vessels, include open-ended steam vent pipes that are used to vent steam to the atmosphere. It is known to provide the steam vent pipes with a vent head in order to safely discharge steam to the atmosphere at a low velocity.
One type of known vent head comprises a housing containing a baffle which is arranged to intercept steam entering the housing. The baffle causes water entrained within the steam to be separated from the steam. The dry steam is then vented to the atmosphere through an outlet in the housing and the separated water is fed to a drain line where it is drained from the steam system.
Whilst such a vent head is suitable for some applications, there are a number of drawbacks associated with it. For example, it is not capable of separating all of the water that is entrained in the steam. Further, known vent heads can be time consuming to install due to the pipework connections that are necessary.
It is therefore desirable to provide an improved vent head that addresses these and other needs.